So, the most interesting occurrences have been happening to me at work lately and I thought I would share in a blog post. I primarily work with private sellers who are interested in trading their vehicle and work to help them find the best deal at the best price. Since craigslist announced that they would be charging $5 per ad per vehicle, I have received multiple emails from private sellers, complaining about craigslist charging per ad. After the fourth email, I began to question if I misread and double checked on the craigslist page if it was both dealers and private sellers that were to be charged. After seeing that it distinctly specified dealers only, I emailed the private sellers and told them not to worry - craigslist was still free for them!

A few of them emailed me back and I realized that this was the first time I was actually having a conversation with a private seller about craigslist from their perspective. Instantly, my curiosity sparked and I began chatting back and forth. I thought I would blog about the three most interesting conversations I had that day -- hearing craigslist from their perspective was beyond interesting - and something valuable for everyone in the automotive industry to remember: at the end of the day, its the people that make it possible for the automotive industry to continue and we should never forget what it feels like from the individual buyer's perspectives - their voice matters!

CONVO 1: From the Community Watcher's Perspective

I am going to refer to this man as CW. CW's response to my email that craigslist would not charging the private sellers was: "Well, that's cool. This still sucks though." Confused by the comment, I implored and and CW shared with me his role in the craigslist community. CW bought and resold vehicles - it was not his main occupation - but one that he enjoyed doing as he had extra money to buy vehicles and sit on them until they sold, while other private sellers desperately needed to sell their vehicles for the cash. CW did this more to help people than for profit; of course, he made a few bucks here and there, but he enjoyed doing it to help others and getting to know people in the process. The only website he used for buying and selling was craigslist. 

CW said he first started buying and selling cars around three years ago - he would buy them off craigslist and sell them off craigslist. It was more of a hobby for him, but he would find himself on craigslist quite frequently. When on craigslist, he noticed that in his community several dealerships were spamming by posting multiple ads of the same car on the website over and over again. CW felt this was wrong and started flagging - it was important to CW to keep his craigslist community free of spam. Since craigslist did not answer when he complained, CW took it upon himself to diligently review and monitor car listings, initiating flagging sessions for vehicles posted over and over again with a community of like-minded individuals that believed in keeping craigslist a community. 

I asked CW, then, why he was upset that craigslist was charging per ad. From my perspective, this would eliminate the massive posts of dealer spam, while at the same time allowing private sellers to remain unscathed. CW did not feel the same way. His comment: "If a dealer pays for an ad, it won't get flagged. Dealers are too smart. Craigslist did not keep up with all the tricks that we saw and won't be able to tell if they are posting the same car over again. They just won't."

It was then, at this moment, that I thought about it from CW's perspective and understood what he was saying: while craigslist was absent, he had formed a system to help his community. Now that it was being removed, he felt like his role was gone and did not feel like craigslist could catch up. By not being able to help regulate the community, CW felt cheated, betrayed and in the market for a new hobby. Had craigslist monitored and protected the private sellers in the beginning, I don't know if CW would have felt the same way, but it certainly was from a perspective I had not considered before. My final question to CW was: "Will you continue to use craigslist?'" His response: "Yea, but it will never be the same." 

CONVO 2: From the Distrusting Yearly Buyer's Perspective

I am going to refer to this woman as Relp. After informing Relp that private sellers were free and clear of the new $5 per ad charge - Relp's response was: "Well that's stupid." Confused by this remark, I implored further into why that was a stupid move on craigslist part - it was obvious to me that private sellers were lessening their faith in craigslist's community - craigslist's attempt was at least an attempt to remedy it.

Relp's answer was: "That just means dealers are going to post in the private seller section." I paused. I had not fathomed that particular scenario, and even though craigslist forbade it in their terms and conditions, I didn't feel confident in assuring Relp that it would or would not happen. After talking to Relp for a while, I discovered that she had just gotten through a rough divorce. Pre-divorce, at the end of every year, she would trade her vehicle in for another one. She preferred to sell her current vehicle first to a private seller, because dealers constantly tried to under value the car's worth. Once she had a buyer for her vehicle, she would search various different sites to find the best deal on her next car. She always knew what she wanted in advance. Because of her divorce, Relp had not been able to trade her car last year and was ready for a change. 

Relp's concern was the private seller section, in which she has used to sell her vehicle in the past, was going to become flooded by dealers posing as private sellers. To her, the craigslist change was prompting the fear of her being able to sell her car each year. Relp said, "I used craigslist every time and it worked out great. If dealers start flooding the private seller section, I don't know what will happen. Private sellers largely ignored the dealers section anyways."  

After talking to Relp, I realized that there had been a battle between the dealers and private sellers on craigslist and for the most part the private sellers had won. They kept their private seller spam free and didn't care much of how many dealers posted in the dealer category. Relp's concern with charging in one section was that dealers would flood the private seller section to avoid the cost. I am sure she is right to a certain extent, but the only thing I could offer Relp was saying that if a dealer would lie about being a private seller, the chances of lying again were most certain. At the end of the day, a dealer doesn't want to hurt their reputation and by posing in a section to avoid paying is not the image dealers want in their community. Only time will tell what happens, but Relp's concern is certainly legitimate and I hope craigslist has considered this and has a good plan for monitoring it.

CONVO 3: From the Everyday Casual User's Perspective

I am going to refer to this young man as Joe. Joe was an everyday guy whose use of craigslist revolved around looking for a car to purchase. He preferred trading his car to a dealer, even though he was aware he was always given a lower price for his trade. However, he always listed his car for sale on craigslist and had sold it once without going to a dealer. He always bought his vehicles from dealerships, though.  Joe greatly enjoyed researching the perfect car until he found 'the one'. Once found, he would go to the dealer, trade in his car, and leave with his new one. He said that most of the time dealers had more inventory of what he wanted than private sellers and his trades were always higher priced, making it harder for private sellers to come up with the entire amount of the vehicle without getting a bank loan. 

Joe's biggest craigslist complaint was the amount of spam he was receiving from just listing his car for sale. From being emailed TV offers and credit card offers to being called on his phone for purposes unrelated to buying or selling his vehicle. By listing, Joe had become a target for all sorts of solicitations that had nothing to do with the sale of his vehicle. Joe didn't blame craigslist for not protecting his information. He didn't blame dealers for over posting. He just simply stated that posting an ad had flooded his inbox and phone with un-related offers. To him, if he was going to post on craigslist again, he would have to make a fake email and use a phone number he didn't need again to avoid it. But that is always why Joe was looking at other places to list - he didn't want to have to buy another cell phone or change numbers or create multiple emails if there was something like craigslist or better out there. 

So as we can see, at the end of the day, there is a lot of emotions about the new craigslist change of December 3, 2013 - not just from dealerships and vendors - but from private sellers as well. A lot of private sellers really rely on craigslist to help them sell their vehicle. And it's always been free for them. From these private sellers, I realized what a big part craigslist was in their lives and how much people went through to keep their community clean. With craigslist being absent from customer support, private sellers took upon themselves the job to clean it up. Now that craigslist is emerging with a change, private sellers are just as weary to it. But we should never forget what it feels like from the private seller standpoint - dealers, vendors, and car manufacturer's alike - it's the people who buy and trade vehicles that make the car industry possible and their viewpoints should not go overlooked or unnoticed ever! 

About Me

Hi! My name is Sarah and I am an account representative with ClassifiedRide.com. My primary job is to assist the private seller in selling, trading or buying their vehicle! I am a big believer in community and customer support and enjoy helping people make the best decision based on their individual needs. My journey in the automotive industry began over five years ago when I began to explore Internet law, which lead me down to  automotive marketing. Through this journey, I have met wonderful people and am very happy to be able work on connecting buyers and sellers together.